Keep an Eye On the Sky: Big Star Talks to God

Last month brought the long-awaited release of Keep An Eye On The Sky, a boxed set collecting the music 70s power-pop pioneers Big Star. I recently heard the short-lived Memphis group referred to as “the greatest American cult rock band this side of The Velvet Underground”. Which basically means their influence is inversely proportionate to their popularity/commercial success. I happen to greatly prefer them to The Velvets and would consider the tragic British band Badfinger a more appropriate reference point. Musically, at least. Unlike Badfinger, the closest Big Star ever got to having a hit was when one of their lesser songs was resurrected (and covered by Cheap Trick) to serve as the theme for That 70s Show – you know, “Hanging out! Down the street!…”

What doesn’t seem to get much attention, and what the boxed set makes painfully clear, is how, well, religious their records are. It’s remarkable–arguably the “hippest” American band of the 70s (certainly the one that indie rockers love to name-drop the most) made music that, especially on their first record, bordered on proto-Christian rock. Much of this was due to the influence of the overtly Christian Chris Bell, the co-leader of the band who in recent years has become something of a poster boy for tragic indie artistry. And indeed, if his songs are anything to go by, the guy was tortured.

But first, the Christianity: a few sample lyrics of Bell’s song “My Life Is Right” off Big Star’s debut #1 Record, “Once I walked a lonely road/I had no one to share my load/But then you came and showed the way/And now I hope you’re here to stay/You give me life”. Borderline mega-church stuff, if it weren’t for all the chiming power chords and gorgeous Beatle-esque production. Which isn’t to say his songs aren’t sincere or heartfelt–in fact, if they were any more so, they’d be unlistenable. Bell left after the first record, but not before contributing a couple of (amazing) songs to their live set, the titles alone of which tell the story: “I Got Kinda Lost” and “There Was A Light”.

As is often the case, Bell’s talent came with its fair share of personal demons. Drug addiction and clinical depression being chief among them. Sadly, his songs betray a faith that is inescapably Semi-Pelagian and therefore incapable of offering him the comfort or deliverance or just plain good news that he seemed to be longing for. The song “Try Again”, also from #1 Record, paints a sad albeit honest picture of where that kind of theology leads (it would reach full fruition in the chilling “Better Save Yourself”, recorded long after he had left the band):

Lord I’ve been trying to be what I shouldLord
I’ve been trying to do what I could
But each time it gets a little harder
I feel the pain
But I’ll try again

Lord I’ve been trying to be understood
And Lord I’ve been trying to do as you would
But each time it gets a little harderI feel the pain
But I’ll try again

The other great talent in the band was Alex Chilton, the one-time singer for teen sensations The Box Tops (“The Letter”) and not without troubles of his own. In fact, the third and final Big Star album is commonly recognized as an icon of artistic self-sabotage. Beautiful songs obscured by strangeness and drug-addled disintegration (and maybe a little outsider psychosis). I highly recommend it, both as a musical curiosity/triumph and a tour-de-force of human conflictedness. Oddly enough, the record contains the band’s best and most explicit burst of Christianity, the jangling yuletide anthem known simply as “Jesus Christ”–this time from Chilton, who was by all accounts a pretty non-religious guy. The song comes from out of nowhere, beginning with a nonsensical prelude before launching into lyrics poached from a number of Protestant hymns. Some say it’s half-serious, some say it’s completely earnest–all agree that the song is in keeping with the off-beat tone of Third and even one of its highlights. Regardless, it’s probably my favorite rock song about Jesus, and definitely my favorite Christmas one:

Angels from the realms of glory
Stars shone bright above
Royal David’s city
Was bathed in the light of love

Jesus Christ was born todayJesus Christ was born

Lo, they did rejoice
Fine and pure of voice
And the wrong shall fail
And the right prevail

Theologically, we’re dealing with a descriptive, God-centered tune if ever there was one, almost the polar opposite of Bell’s anguished first-person prayers. I can’t help but wish the two approaches could have met somehow. Instead, the disconnect is simply another dimension of the tragedy that characterized Big Star, quite possibly the greatest self-destructive and highly neurotic Southern anglo-pop band the world has never known. Keep an eye on the sky!

A further fascinating wrinkle to the Big Star story. In a rare interview (in 1992), Alex Chilton was quoted as saying, "People say Big Star made some of the best rock 'n roll albums ever. And I say they're wrong."

Great description, Dave! Personally I'm really touched by the honesty of their lyrics. They feel like psalms in a way, full of simultaneous gratitude, frustration and guilt. I certainly can relate, no matter how much I hear "the good news"!

Question: how does Superdrag/John Davis fit in? Is Big Star a big influence of his? Is his a really obvious question I should know the answer to!?

Very interesting piece about an aspect of Big Star's work that doesn't get much attention. I just posted a piece about #1 Record on my own blog, based on an interview I did years ago with Jody Stephens. Check it out at http://yesteryearsounds.blogspot.com/

Pingbacks/Trackbacks

[…] is how folks normally refer to their kind of music, and despite the affinities with a certain other Tennessee band, the label doesn’t really do them justice. The lyrical vision is too eccentric and cynical, […]

[…] way, putting together a good Thanksgiving mix is no easy task. On their controversial Third record, Big Star made one of the few lasting, if utterly facetious contributions to the genre. Alex Chilton was not […]

[…] 8. Finally, in music, the long-awaited Big Star documentary hit theaters and some on-demand services this week, and in honor of the occasion, might I direct you to John Jeremiah Sullivan’s fantastic piece (irritatingly so!) on co-founder Chris Bell from a couple of years’ ago in the Oxford American. And here I thought I was the only one talking about the abundant Christianity in that band’s music…: […]

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